chalkboard Family Home Evening board {tutorial}

 

fab friday {Neko Knits}

I'm so excited to introduce you to Kitty from Neko Knits.
Kitty & I joke back & forth that she's my blog stalker, ;)
but seriously it's me who stalks her!
She is fabulous, talented & smart,
 & the perfect guest host
for this week's fab friday.
Take it away, Kitty!

Hello all!

Around my house everyone calls me Kitty, 

I'm a nursing student who crafts to de-stress from nursing school.

I started blog stalking Ginger a few months ago when she was hosting a giveaway and have been at it ever since, I was so excited she asked me to guest blog on Ginger Snaps.


This is one of my most recent projects,

A gal at work was getting married and I'm a starving student right now,

but I love to give pretty wedding gifts.

So I put the crafting super powers to work, here's a closer look

Pretty nice, right?

Well it's super easy to cross stitch onto other fabrics.

All you need is some waste fabric which is easily 

found at you local craft store in the embroidery section.

Step 1.

Measure and cut out the appropriate amount of waste fabric.

Remember those blue lines indicate 

5 stitch increments, 

not the ten that are blocked out on patterns. 

I made this mistake.

Step 2.

Then fold it in half length wise then width

wise to find the center. 

Mark the center with a pin

Step 3: Secure your fabric

Line up the center of your waste fabric with the

center of your towel and fasten the waste fabric securely.

Ensure that the waste fabric is on straight and very flush to the towel. 

If you are doing a larger piece of work I would suggest sewing the fabric down with a few large baste stitches, but for a small project like this a few pins work just fine.

Now you can stitch away!


Step 4: Get Rid of the Waste

Trim the excess waste fabric from around the design.

Hang on to those scraps! 

I use decent sized pieces to put

tiny bits of embroidery on baby clothes.

Fray the edges by pulling the threads out one 

at a time both length wise and width wise.

You may want a pair of tweezers to help pull out 

the threads that are under the embroidery.

Be patient and pull in a smooth motion,

don't jerk or snap as you'll just end up breaking

the thread you are trying to pull out. 

It's a lot like tweezing your eyebrows! 

Seriously, use that same even motion.

To give your project a nice finished look press the embroidery on both sides with an iron set on medium and put a cloth between the work and the embroidery.

Then stand back and admire you work.

Now you can make your own set of personalized hand towels,

but don't stop there you personalize any fabric now!

OR

You could check out my blog.

 To celebrate reaching 

50 followers 

I am going to give a set of these towels away!

You can enter too!

Thank you so much, Kitty.

Don't forget to head over to her blog

& enter her {fabulous} giveaway!

Also, you still time to link up at my 

{wow} me wednesday link up party.

Click here to enter.

Have a {fabulous} weekend everyone!

What are your plans?

Fab Friday {Weekend's Here!}

So, do you have big plans for the weekend?

Mine include my hubby coming home tonight

after being gone all week (Wahoo!},

planting the garden, a soccer game,

taking family pictures & finishing this book

for May's Book Club over on Measured by the Heart.



picture from Amazon.com



I'm just about half way done, & it's getting good!

(Ginger Snaps is sponsoring May's Book Club,

& a Ginger Snaps giveaway is involved!}

You still have time to grab the book & join along!

Speaking of giveaways...

you've got to head over to

Polka Dot Whimsy.

sometime this weekend.

Tracy has a brand new blog,

& she's doing her very first giveaway!

{Winner will be chosen Monday, so hurry!}

Up for grabs are two cute reusable snack bags!

{Tracy is so talented & fun!}

Be sure to check back here Monday.

Yep...another giveaway here on Ginger Snaps!

{We reached 250 followers this week!}

Time to celebrate!

Happy Weekend, everyone!

Fab Friday {cupcake platter}

OK I admit it...some of my ideas aren't mine!

I know, I know...I'm really not that creative!

That's why I {love} looking at all of your amazing blogs

& finding super cute ideas that I can use.

Love this one from

the ladies over at

How Does She?.

{Don't you just love their blog?!}

Cupcakes are so popular right now,

and they came up with the

cutest way to display your cupcakes.

{Best of all, it's cheap!}

You can see how they did it here.

To make mine.
I bought 3 different
size glass plates.
{You can find these
super cheap at
Walmart or Target.}

Then you need 2 or 3 sundae dishes.
{Those are equally as cheap!}

Stack them up!
Add cupcakes.
{Viola, fanciness!}

{I got my

rainbow cupcake recipe

from Mama Clucks.}

Thanks, Hollye! :)

They were yummy!

Happy Friday, everyone!

Fab Friday {Happy Mother's Day} + a Ginger Snaps giveaway at {Eye Spy DIY}+ I was featured {twice!}

Happy Mother's Day!

If you get a chance head over to
Eye Spy DIY
to enter another {fabulous}
Ginger Snaps giveaway!

 And guess what?My Mother's Day Tulip Bouquet was featured over at Itsy Bitsy Paper & Tip Junkie today. {I'm so excited!}Thanks, Ladies!   Have a wonderful weekend!

Fab Friday: Kitty, whoopdwhoop & a family wall

Meet Kitty.

She is fab.u.lous.

She blogs over here

at A Law Student's Journey.

 She is smart, funny & creatively crafty.How cool is that? I met Kitty through whoopdwhoop.She contacted me about doing a giveaway over on her blog.
  Since then I've started my own etsy shop& now have my own craft blog. Thanks for the inspiration, Kitty! Yesterday I saw this over onSweet Peas & Bumble Bees.(My newest sponsor!)(Interested in a sponsor swap, too?)Click here.

Isn't that wall beautiful?

Notice the FAMILY frame

where there are different

pictures for each letter.

(Love that!)

Update:

That totally does not say family!

Either I need my eyes checked or I can't read! ;)

It says Corney

which is their last name!

Thanks, Sarah! :)

But, hey, it still gave me the idea for "family". :)

(For more pictures & details

of this lovely family wall

visit Sarah at The Bird's Papaya here!)

So how does Kitty, whoopdwhoop
& this family wall go together?

(Besides all of them being so fab.u.lous!?!?)

Well, I'll tell ya!  :)

When I saw that fab.u.lous wall,
I remembered that Kitty had letters

similar to those listed over on whoopdwhoop.

So I ran over there & found this listing.

How fab.u.lous. is that?

(For only 1 whoop, too!)

What a steal!

(If you haven't signed up for
whoopdwhoop yet,
what are you waiting for?)

Now off to find the perfect frame! :)

(I'll update when I have my own family wall!)